Aaron's Staff
Aaron's Staff refers to any of the staves carried by Moses' brother, Aaron, in the Old Testament of the Bible. The rods of both Moses and Aaron were endowed with miraculous power during the Plagues of Egypt. Aaron's rod, however, is cited twice as exhibiting miraculous power on its own, when not physically in the grasp of its owner. Magical Properties When God sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh, Aaron was instructed that when Pharaoh demanded to see a miracle, he was to "cast down his rod" and it became a serpent. Later in the Bible, God commanded that each of the tribes should provide a rod; and that one of them would sprout overnight. Aaron provided his rod, and "it put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.” According to tradition, the rod of Aaron bore sweet almonds on one side and bitter on the other; and the behavior of the Israelites would determine which would be edible. A later tradition asserts that the rod was kept in the Ark of the Covenant. The fact remains, however, that a rod was preserved in the Tabernacle as a relic of the institution of the Aaronic priesthood. Composition The rod was said to be made of sapphire, weighed forty seahs (a seah = 10.70 pounds), and bore an inscription composed of the initials of the Hebrew names of the Ten Plagues. Creation of the Staff Some legends state that God created the Staff in the twilight of the sixth day of Creation and delivered it to Adam when the latter was driven from paradise. After it had passed through many hands, it came into the possession of Joseph. On Joseph's death the Egyptian nobles stole some of his belongings. The Egyptian who appropriated the staff planted it in his garden, from where nobody could withdraw it from the ground; even to touch it was fraught with danger to life. When Moses entered the Egyptian’s household, he was able to draw up the rod. There exists another legend wherein Moses split a tree trunk into twelve portions and gave one portion to each tribe. According to this legend, the staff is a fragment of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and was eventually in possession of Jesus of Nazareth. After Pharez's death an angel carried it to the mountains of Moab and buried it there, where the pious Jethro found it. When Moses, at Jethro's request, went in search of it, the rod was brought to him by an angel. With this staff Aaron and Moses performed all the miracles previously explained before returning it to Joshua, who buried it in Jerusalem. There it remained hidden until the birth of Jesus, when the place of its concealment was revealed to Joseph, who took it with him on the journey to Egypt. Judas Iscariot stole it from James, brother of Jesus, who had received it from Joseph. At Jesus' crucifixion the Jews had no wood for the transverse beam of the cross, so Judas produced the staff for that purpose. Category:Legendary People Category:Magical Relics